Business

Facebook Rolls Out 'Want-able' Pics of Products in the News Feed

By now, most brands have figured out that the best way to get engagement in this Pinterest-saturated age is by posting photos. Now, Facebook is catering to this trend by offering some brands the option to post those photos with actions including "want," "collect" and, of course, "Like." Products within a collection will also have a Buy link, sending people offsite to purchase a product

Facebook is working with Victoria's Secret, Pottery Barn, Michael Kors, Wayfair, Neiman Marcus, Fab.com and Smith Optics on the effort, which it calls "Collections."

As a user, you won't see the photos unless you or one of your friends have "Liked" one of them. The images are designed to be discovered in the news feed, and people will be able to engage with these collections and share things they are interested in with their friends. Users can also click through and buy the items via Facebook.

The program is a fairly transparent hedge against Pinterest, which currently lacks a buy feature. If the idea takes off, it will be a shot in the arm for so-called "F-commerce" or Facebook-based retail transactions, which so far hasn't gotten mainstream adoption. A Facebook rep says that the program does not employ Facebook's big acquisition of the year, Instagram. However, it's easy to see how in the future the features could be added to a brand's Instagram feed as well. The rep added that Facebook doesn't get a cut of the transactions.

What do you think of Facebook's latest gambit? Let us know in the comments.

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